Interview with LEGO Masters finalists - Part 3
Posted by MeganL,
Tomorrow's the day - the season finale of LEGO Masters here in the US!
Brickset was invited to interview each of the teams that will be appearing in the series finale. To avoid spoilers for those of you watching on catch-up or via some illicit website in other countries we won't reveal their names above the fold.
Read on to read the last interview with one of the final teams.....
In a bit of a surprise, no teams were sent home last week, so all three teams advanced to the finals. Sam and Jessica have been a dark horse team throughout the season, after having some difficulties in the beginning of season but regrouping to still be standing at the end.
What inspired the two of you to go on LEGO Masters, especially considering you had never built together before the show?
Jessica: In January 2019, I had quit my job to follow a dream of being a fulltime artist. I had been an artist and selling artwork for eight years. But I still had a fulltime job. I finally quit that to go all-in on a dream to make art out of LEGO and sell it. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I did not know about LEGO Masters. I was approached by somebody who saw my artwork. They thought it was phenomenal and asked me to apply to be on the show. I thought it was a godsend, I really did, because I had quit my job that year not knowing what would happen, then ended up with a TV show. And now here I am as a finalist on LEGO Masters. It’s really a dream come true.
So I was asked to apply, and I wanted to do the show. I thought it was a godsend for an artist, definitely. The art world is very cutthroat. It’s very hard to make a name for yourself because there are so many talented artists. I am so grateful for this incredible opportunity. And to be a finalist, that makes it even better.
Sam: I was building with LEGO and doing some crazy things. It was popular and went viral. One of my friends saw the ad for LEGO Masters on Facebook and said I should apply for it. I didn’t think they would choose me or that it was a possibility. But my friend said, “Send your stuff in.” So I sent it in and they called me. We had some conversations and went through the whole casting process. They didn’t like my first partner. Then came Jessica. We thought we could do this, we liked each other;s style and art. We did it, and we made it to the top three. [laughs] It was a good experience. I’m pretty honoured to be chosen.
You two had a bit of a rough start. What made your team click on your way to the final three?
Sam: After the first few episodes, Jessica was very encouraging and said something to me like, “You can do this” and “Don’t let your self-doubt get the better of you.” And then we clicked just in time for the Cut In Half challenge where we made our mermaid. I said I’ll do what I do best, you do what you do best and it just started to work all of a sudden. I think it is like that working with any new group or partner for the first time. You have to learn their patterns, how to trust them, what they know and don’t know. It is a process and to expect anyone to be perfect on their first try is ridiculous. You have to figure it out. We both wanted to be there, so we tried our hardest.
Jessica: It was our first time building with each other. I recognized his skillset off the bat. I’m a very quantified person. And, here my partner Samuel has two decades of experience in toy-making and I had 10 years of experience in art and design. Combined, that is 30 years of design experience so I was pretty ecstatic because I feel like our skillset was very dynamic and very different from a lot of other teams. I think once that clicked with my partner, we were able to get into our groove and create those gorgeous, artistic pieces starting with the mermaid. Once we found that groove, we were able to evolve as a team, which is really special.
Your team developed a unique design style connecting short plates to create organic shapes. Did that cause any of your models to be fragile?
Sam: Every team has something that broke! [laughs] There wasn’t ever any time to go back and re-engineer things for any team. If you tried a technique and it works, you moved on. Yes, we all would have loved to tinker and over hours and make things stronger but the clock was constantly ticking. Every team had the problem at some point where they looked worried and you could see on their face, “Oh no! This is falling apart!” You saw it in the Star Wars challenge with Mark and Boone’s AT-ST. Luckily they were able to fix it in time, but for the most part we never had the time to fix things that broke.
Jessica: Everyone had things that broke. But I feel like one of our strengths as a team was that we used very different building techniques than the other teams. For example, the way we did the water exploding out of the fire hydrant for the mermaid or the explosions of red in our Star Wars build. We aren’t building with bricks on top of bricks. It is much more complicated building sideways and gravity was our biggest enemy. We had things breaking and falling off all the time. But we figured out as a team how to keep a lot of those pieces together to pull off a really great presentation. We looked at the bigger picture. We are similar in that we both look at shapes then figure out how to build that shape and start from there. I remember when Sam was working on the mermaid tail, he figured out the shape first--you can see it in the episode when he lays it down and attaches it all together—then we figured out how to position it. That was our building strategy.
What was the most difficult aspect of the challenges aside from the time limit?
Jessica: The time limit *was* the most difficult aspect! [laughs] The time limit was definitely an “artist killer” right there. But other than the time limits, I’d say the hardest aspect of the show was actually listening to the judges and incorporating their feedback. I think that is why a lot of great teams got knocked out. Sam and I had some kind of magical ability to decode what the Brick Masters wanted and were able to adjust our builds accordingly and follow-through. For example in the Storybook challenge, I had built a pink soap car that I loved but the Judges said it clashed with the main colour Mark and Boone were using so we took it out. Obviously the judges can’t tell you specifically what to do, but we paid very close attention and then made changes.
Sam: The time limits were so difficult. Jessica and I were on the same page pretty quickly with good ideas. Even though we are different, we always had great ideas and tried to make each other laugh. But I have never been a fast builder. At home, I work as best as I can with what I have on hand and then just go for it, but you have time to think about what you are building.
In the Good vs. Evil challenge, you had to partner with another team. What was it like to partner with a team you were also competing with?
Sam: I loved it. It was a whole new dynamic, and Mark and Boone are both amazing. They’re both kind and generous. Everybody on the show was though. We all talked to each other after the tapings as you’re going back to the hotel at night, so we’d get ideas from each other. I didn’t feel like anyone was trying to fight or hurt or backstab – at least I didn’t feel it. We were partnered with Mark and Boone who were in it to win it. They were definitely not trying to take a break and say, “Oh, we have the golden brick, we don’t have to try.” They worked with us and they kept being supportive. It was one of my favourite times there. I just had so much fun that week. We’d chosen such hilariously weird characters. Something about it just worked so well. I loved it.
Jessica: Yeah, I loved it too. Sam said everything that I would say. Mark and Boone are so talented. We were both thrilled we got Mark and Boone because that’s the team we wanted to work with. We have different skill sets so we knew we could make a mega-build that was really dynamic and had all the elements in it. What the judges loved about our build with Mark and Boone was that they looked at it and even though our characters were so wacky, they didn’t need anything explained. They’re like, “Yes that’s definitely a shower guy battling a big giant pink panda.” They knew exactly what it was. That was also one of my favourite challenges to work on.
Do you have any favourite builds from your competitors you saw over the entire series?
Jessica: There was so many! One of my favourites was actually Aaron and Christian’s underwater helmet for the Cut-in-Half challenge.
Sam: That was my favourite build of the whole season! It was gorgeous and so perfectly polished technically. Sadly, the issue they had was that this is a reality competition show and it just wasn’t big enough for TV. The judges came around and told them to make it bigger since it was only as big as a person’s head. I know they had it in them, but they were so excited about their build and their direction that they kept going with what they had. Their creation was so amazing, the way it moved, the lights—honestly it would have won awards at any LEGO convention. But on a reality TV show, you have to listen to the judges and it just wasn’t big enough.
What was your favourite creation that your team has built so far?
Jessica: For me, it is a tie between our mermaid and our Star Wars build. For the Battle of Crait, I loved how we captured the action and energy of the scene. And I loved those red dust clouds. And honestly it isn’t our favourite movie or Star Wars scene in general, but we thought that it is just such an artistic battle that there was a lot of potential for building something amazing to capture the colors and energy of the scene. I love the way we did that build.
Sam: I agree her completely. We captured energy, action, and movement which is what Star Wars is all about. Honestly it surprised us when we finished and took a step back from the build to see something so amazing. I was so proud. It was such a great feeling to see what we could accomplish when we were on the same page with a common goal and when we clicked as a team. We’d received some hard critiques in previous shows, so it felt amazing to really nail a challenge.
Jessica: I thought you might say the elephant you made for the Storybook challenge.
Sam: That elephant was something I would have never ever made for myself. I mean, who would have ever imagined an elephant with candy cane legs on a golden sleigh? Definitely either a kid with a vivid imagination or someone on drugs! [laughs] I loved that elephant, but it wasn’t the same feeling that we had when we stepped away from our Battle of Crait. We were in awe. We felt proud. We loved it. We were crying. I remember looking at Jessica and saying, “We did it!”
What did it feel like to go from being in the bottom at the beginning of the series to having such a strong showing in the semi-final Star Wars build?
Jessica: I was overwhelmed with emotion based on the feedback from the judges. I thought to myself, “Oh my God, I think we’re going to the finale!” That was the first time I really thought we were definitely going to go. I think we both were overwhelmed and happy and overjoyed in that moment. And a little freaked out too! [laughs]
Sam: Both teams of Mark and Boone and Tyler and Amy have won so many challenges. They are the teams to beat, and suddenly we’re there with them toe-to-toe to get into the finale. It felt so good because we worked so hard on that challenge. Even when we weren’t building during a break for the night, we stayed up and tried to talk about the build and what we needed to do the next day. We got up super early in the morning--and Jessica would have to get up even earlier to do hair and makeup. I really think we earned it.
What would have been the perfect challenge for your team if you could have chosen one?
Jessica: Sculpting something completely wacky and weird! We would have won hands down with something like a sculpting challenge that was really untraditional. I think that’s why we did well in the Storybook challenge. So something like that--I feel like we would have really excelled.
We like to be able to make our own ideas--both of us. A lot of times of a challenge was more literal and given to us like, “Okay, you have to make this exact thing, like Star Wars, you have to make this other thing.” We like coming up with our ideas and creating them from scratch. That’s why I loved the Cut in Half challenge because it was sculpting and we got to come up with our own idea.
Sam: I agree--we excelled at that too. We understand each other in those moments. We’re like, “Oh yeah, I get this, I get what you’re doing, I get what you’re saying. Let’s get to work.”
Do you have a favourite LEGO Masters memory that the camera didn’t catch?
Sam: There was something every single night! We’d go to dinner together as a big group a lot. It felt like it was one big family. My favourite was when we went to the LEGO store one weekend on one of our first weekends there. We had the day off and we all wanted to get a picture together in front of the pick-a-brick wall. The person who was taking the picture of us said, “You guys are all so attractive!” and Kara goes, “Yes, we should all be on TV!” We giggled because we were filming a show but nobody knew we were going to be on TV. We were just a large group buying LEGO. It was an inside joke and it was such a special moment of surreal-ness. Yeah, that was my favourite thing ever.
Jessica: I think just hanging out with the cast was really cool. Sam, I, and Krystle and Amy are really good friends. Right before we started filming we got to go to a Halloween event together and it was very, very fun. I think just hanging out with the cast overall is my best memory since there wasn’t one specific moment I could really put my finger on.
Did you learn any building techniques from other teams?
Sam: There were so many!
Jessica: The platforms! I noticed the builds that were winning were almost always on some kind of raised platform. So for the Star Wars challenge, I was likr, “Okay, we are doing the platform thing” because I noticed the Brick Masters really like that. If you notice, Boone and Mark were almost always on a platform--every single time they had some kind of solid foundation to build on. So that’s definitely a technique that I saw on their team and then we started incorporating it in ours. Tyler and Amy as well had platforms too. They do sculptures so they didn’t always have one, but it seemed like when they did, they would win the challenge. Presentation made a big difference with the judges.
In some challenges you were portrayed as having a hard time like during the Bridge challenge while in others seemed to come more easily to you. Was there a tangible difference between how you handled the challenges or was the discrepancy due to editing of the episodes?
Sam: For me, it was both. Everybody was stressed in every episode--but they don’t show it all. Part of it is editing. I wanted to show that I am fairly good with LEGO. But the first day that I walked onto the set I was like, “Oh, gosh!” I recognized some of my competitors and seen their work before, and it’s phenomenal and so polished. I thought there’s no way I can beat that. So, I essentially beat myself. I thought I could only get to episode four, maybe five. In the beginning, I just didn’t want to go home first.
But after we found our footing, I decided, “I don’t care because I don’t expect to go all the way.” That gave me some freedom and I didn’t put pressure on myself anymore. I felt like I could just build, and that made it so much better. I wasn’t going back to the hotel at night worried. But then there were times when we felt we didn’t do as well as we thought we would do. Like in the Star Wars challenge, I’m a huge Star Wars fan but I didn’t know how we were going to do it. I had self-doubt and that’s something that happens to everyone. Jessica was definitely great for knocking me out of that and saying, “You can do this, stop doubting yourself. Just do it. I’ve seen you do it over and over again.” Those moments were just the best because she would just knock me on my butt with encouragement. It was what I needed in that moment.
How did your attitude approaching the challenges affect your inspiration and how you ultimately performed in each episode?
Jessica: I think that moment when I helped Sam see his potential during the Star Wars challenge was really special. Right from the beginning, I really thought Sam was very talented. I saw that early on. I knew it would be difficult because we had not built together at first. But I was hopeful we were going to make it to the end. I didn’t know *how* we were going to make it to the end, but I was going to make sure that we stayed there as long as possible.
Sam: She had such a positive attitude the whole time. Like, “Sam, we’re doing this! We’re doing it!”
Jessica: Right! [laughs] I’m really happy. It was a beautiful moment in the Star Wars episode. You see towards the end that we did it, and the judges gave us amazing feedback. Those were real tears there--we were both really happy. Those were happy tears and I think that’s magical. That is why LEGO is amazing. It can do much more than allow you to be creative. LEGO allows so much in terms of teamwork, and those magical moments of believing in yourself and believing in your talent.
That’s why I loved our Star Wars build so much because that is the key to being a successful artist. You have to value your talent--you have to know you are good. That’s why I’m programmed to be that way because the art industry is so cutthroat. The industry can be tough, and people will say you are not good enough. You get those punches all the time and I’m used to rolling with them. I feel like as an artist, all you can do is be hopeful, know your value, know the value in your work, and push through. I feel that story came out in our Battle of Crait build. That’s why it’s my favourite episode so far. I felt we had a really great method and a phenomenal build as well.
Sam: I also want to say that I got in my head a lot about being a technical builder. Tyler and Aaron were both so amazing at technical building. But it’s not just about technical building. The challenges are about storytelling and creativity and being able to communicate a feeling or having creative ideas. I didn’t know how important that would be in the show. I had in my head that it was all about technical, technical, technical. I just kept saying “I am not as technical as that.” I can’t do the motors like Flynn and Richard can. We don’t know that stuff or have experience with it. So it was amazing to realize as we were going along that that we’re good at this for different reasons. We might not have this history of technical building, but we are both storytellers and we both are creative artists. We have ideas that are not so in-the-box. One of our favourite words to say on the show was “wacky.” We love to say wacky because we had crazy, off-the-wall ideas and we just went with them because we loved them.
What has been the public reaction you’ve seen to being on the show as the colourful and diverse “eccentrics” team?
Sam: In terms of diversity and inclusion, the reaction has been both positive and negative--and I try to thrive on the positives. A few parents have sent me notes about how amazing it is for their children to feel represented on TV for the first time and see someone like them doing something amazing. It honestly wasn’t something I was thinking about heading into the show. I came to the show exactly as I am to build LEGO. I brought the clothes and wore my hair the way I do every day. I was really happy that Fox and the production company Endemol Shine were totally supportive of it. For all the hate mail, the positive feedback from moms made it all worth it. I hope that the world keeps growing and changing and that these things won’t need to be talked about in the future.
Jessica: I really feel for Sam because when I was a little girl, I was kind of a tomboy and I liked to wear boys’ clothes. I was actually told I couldn’t play with LEGO because I was a girl! One of my teachers thought it was only for boys. I’ve had to overcome a lot of gender stereotypes in my life. It’s kind of crazy. I’m happy that the world is changing. I’m happy Sam got to express who he is on the show. I hope kids who may be watching who feel different or left out feel a little more included and represented because of it.
For Jessica, we noticed you had several words hidden in your hair bows in each episode. What was the meaning behind those?
Jessica: Aww, it makes me so happy that someone noticed those! That’s a “Jessica DaVinci Code.” [laughs] I wanted the words that I hid in the bows on the show to be sort of a symbol of both women empowerment and artist empowerment. For example in the first episode, my bow said Dream which was about me finding the courage to pursue my dream of being a full-time artist. A year prior to the show, I quit my job to go all-in on a dream to become an artist. I didn’t even know about LEGO Masters at the time, so that isn’t why. I had been creating art for a decade in my free time but I wanted it to be a focus. The second hidden word in episode two said “hope” because I was hoping to make it in a cutthroat industry. My bow in the Star Wars challenge ironically said Rise even though I had no clue what the challenge would be. The words inspire me, so I thought I had to rise up to the challenge to get to the finale. So the words in the bows reflect my artist’s journey and wanting to make my own kind of personal statement in addition to the LEGO creations we were building.
Can you share all the words you included in your bows for each episode?
Jessica: Of course! I deliberately wore those to represent women and to represent artists. The first word was Dream – it’s about me quitting my job and pursuing my dream of being an artist. The second word was Hope – hoping I would make it in a cutthroat industry. The third word was Love, the fourth word was Inspire, the fifth word for Mega City was Believe, the sixth word was Imagine, the seventh word was Build, the eighth word was Reach, and the ninth word was Rise. No spoilers here, but the tenth word will be Shine!
Was there any significance to the colour of the bows or was it to coordinate with your outfits?
Jessica: Most of them were to coordinate with outfits but some were intentional. The very first one was that hot pink Dream bow. I did want that to be a symbol, the hot pink bow representing women and “dream” representing me being an artist and following the dream. I feel that’s my most iconic hair bow, because that’s why I went to LEGO Masters. Also, we didn’t know if we were going to get eliminated so I tried to use the important one first. The Hope colour is actually a Wizard of Oz reference--The Wizard of Oz starts out as black and white. And the Love bow was red because it’s all about loving yourself as an artist and knowing your value. I feel like it’s also ironic because I wore that during the same episode that we started doing amazing. The words fit with the different challenges coincidentally and I promise I didn’t know what they were ahead of time!
Are you both life-long builders and did either of you ever go through a dark age?
Sam: I’ve always bought LEGO, but I didn’t always build my own creations. I had buckets filled with LEGO. I collected sets and I would build them then tear them apart and throw them in the buckets. One day I went shopping with a friend and he bought a metal cabinet that had something like 88 drawers in it. I thought it was beautiful and wanted one too, but I just didn’t know what I would use it for. He suggested I use it to sort all my buckets of LEGO out, saying I could build stuff with my bricks then. I was like, “[gasps] That is such a good idea!”
So I bought it and it changed my life--it really did. It let me have freedom to build what I wanted to and not spend two hours searching for one piece in buckets and buckets of pieces. But I never went through a dark age. I certainly have at least one of almost every single piece that was ever made.
Jessica: I, on the other hand, had a very long dark age in my life. My story stems from being very young, female, and absolutely fascinated with things that were traditionally associated with boys. I wanted to build something out of LEGO during my school recess, and I was told by a teacher I could not play with LEGO because LEGO was for boys. It was in the boys’ section of the toys. I never thought of that moment again. I put it out of my mind. Then 20 years later, I was doing some soul searching as an artist, and I wanted to take my art to the next level. I wanted my art to be something meaningful and impactful. That moment resurrected in me. I remembered that was the first time in my life I was told I could not be creative specifically because I was female. Then I started using LEGO in my art and have been really successful as an artist as a result.
It’s crazy to see how one moment in your life can make an impact so much later. I do believe that’s why I started using LEGO in my artwork because, originally, I was not using LEGO. It just came to me in a dream one night where I made a piece called “LEGO Lincoln” out of nowhere. I thought it was so brilliant I woke myself up to write it down. The next day I went out to get some materials to make it, and it was a big hit. My artist journey took off from there. So, it was a very long dark age where I did not build with LEGO as a child or in my teenage years. It came much later to me in life.
What has been your involvement with LEGO conventions?
Sam: I’ve gone to LEGO conventions for many years. I’ve always loved it. I actually met Boone like a year ago at Brickworld Chicago and we became fast friends immediately. I actually took a picture of me holding one of his replica ray guns from the 60s. I’ve grown so much and learned so much through conventions. I’ve met people who are so skilled. The LEGO community at its core has just so much love. The first convention I ever went to had thousands of people showing amazing models. I got nominated for two awards that year for different things I’d made, and I just felt so included and accepted. The idea that it was my first time there and I was already bought into this gang, I loved it! I wasn’t ostracized at all and it was so supportive.
Jessica: I had never been to a convention before I went to my first one in Oregon with a bunch of the LEGO Masters cast back in February before this terrible outbreak of the virus, and I’m so glad I did. It was phenomenal to see the amount of talent in the LEGO community. You know, my LEGO community for me was just going into the LEGO store a couple of times a week and buying bricks for my artwork. I got to this point where the LEGO store people just knew I was coming in and knew I was gonna buy like thousands and thousands of pieces and had boxes ready for me and everything.
Going to the LEGO store four times a week over the past year was something I really looked forward to because as a full-time artist, I wake up and I’m in my art studio all day. I really looked forward to taking a trip to the LEGO store, going in and looking at pieces, buying them in bulk, talking with the staff, making little tiny things out of whatever was on the wall. That was definitely one of my happy places and still is. One of my favourite LEGO stores is at Rockefeller Center in New York City. I built a LEGO Lincoln which is made with over 4,000 bricks, and it is actually on display right now in that store. Lincoln’s been on display since February and is sort of quarantined in there until the LEGO store reopens.
Which LEGO user groups (LUG) are you involved in?
Sam: I’ve never actually gotten LUGbulk or anything like that. I’m an honorary member of the Bearded Builders. I’m in OrphanLUG, GayFOLs, and LUGOLA, but only just recently. When I moved to LA, I went to one meeting and then I got cast on the show, so I didn’t get to go to the next meeting and now there hasn’t been any since everything is on hold. I’m part of a bunch of LUGs--any group that will have me! I love having them as a resource and as friends and I love it. So I feel very blessed to be a part of them.
Jessica: I guess by default now I’m part of the Women AFOLs--so WAFOLs. But I haven’t been part of any of those groups. Because I’m an artist myself, because I’m a professional, I sell my artwork. It’s something I do for fun--but not really because it’s something I do for a profession. I didn’t have things I was making as a hobby to show off to a group. Everything I make I was trying to sell immediately for income. That’s why right my batch of art right now is so limited because the second I make something, I sell it immediately to make room for new inventory. My process with LEGO is a little different, but I would like to get involved with some LEGO groups now. After going to my first convention and seeing the talent--oh my gosh, just the pure talent--it really blew my mind and I would definitely like to participate in some more upcoming conventions.
Sam: Like Jess was just saying about how much talent there is out there, even at the smallest convention you’ll find 100 people there that are totally LEGO Masters worthy. There are amazing builders everywhere. We felt very, very honoured to be chosen to be part of the show.
Jessica: That really blew my mind at the convention to see all the diversity of builders, all the different things, from scientific things to superhero fandom. It was really a joy to see the diverse talents. It’s a community I’m a part of and want to stay a part of. I definitely want to join some groups and do some convention stuff in the future.
What’s your biggest takeaway from LEGO Masters?
Jessica: The biggest takeaway for me from LEGO Masters is very personal. It has reaffirmed the need to find the courage to believe in yourself and follow the dream. Because my whole life, for a lot of my professional career, I was good at a lot of things. I was always multi-talented. But all I wanted to do was be an artist. I did not think that I would make it in a cutthroat industry. I’ve experienced my own self-doubt in my life. When I finally found the courage to pursue that dream and went all in, the universe gave me this incredible opportunity to be on LEGO Masters, and now I’m a finalist!
So my biggest takeaway is to find the courage in yourself to follow your dreams. Go all-in on a dream, and I feel like you’ll be successful. I truly, truly believe that. This show and this experience kind of proved that. I am still in disbelief that this even happened to me. A few years ago, I was still a part-time artist and I got my first art show at a very prestigious gallery. It was all LEGO-themed work, and I was literally in tears when I found out it sold out. LEGO is what gave me the confidence to pursue the dream of being an artist. That’s just even more ironic. It was my LEGO work that gave me the confidence to pursue the dream, then I pursued the dream and I got on LEGO Masters. It’s just so crazy to me. So, I think if you give it 110%, you will be successful to some degree.
Sam: I don’t know how to answer. There are just so many emotions. I guess for me, believe in yourself. I don’t know how to word it. I went to LEGO Masters so I could build. I wasn’t trying to worry about what I looked like. I tried to be real at all times. Sometimes that wasn’t the best, and there’s a lot of negative feedback for that. But we’re real humans with real reactions. I was still true to myself and my abilities. Knowing that I was going to get people online that were like, “That guy is in a dress”--there is so much stuff online that’s negative--just ignoring it and being your true self is so powerful. It’s affirming to yourself. I don’t know how to word it. I am grateful for so much of it. I feel honoured. Be true to yourself, because that’s really the most important thing.
What advice would you give to a future LEGO Masters contestant?
Sam: Build, build, build, build. Keep practicing, like anything--like drawing, music, painting, sports, everything depends on practice. The more you practice--the more you build--the more you’ll learn and grow and the better you’ll be. LEGO.com offers a lot of their instructions for a bunch of sets for free online. You can download them and learn techniques, learn how things are put together, and you can learn so much. Keep going, keep trying, keep learning, keep building.
Jessica: I would say the same thing. It’s the same in the art world. Learning never stops. You can be an expert and still know nothing because there are thousands of artists. There are all these different continents, all these different eras of art. Just as an artist, I actually try and learn something new every single day and learn about new artists and what they’re doing. I feel like LEGO is similar. Working on your craft every day, you’ll never reach ultimate perfection because there’s an infinite number of ways to use LEGO. The key is what Sam said. Keep building. Keep creating. Keep looking into new ideas and work on your craft every day. Even the best athletes in the world work on their craft every single day. Tom Brady works on his football game every day, I’m sure. You can never be at your best, you can always do better.
Where can we follow you and your future LEGO creations online?
Jessica: My Instagram handle is @ragzyart . My website is ragzyart.com. My Facebook is Jessica Ragzy Art. My Twitter and Instagram are both @ragzyart.
Sam: You can find me at samuelhatmaker.com or Samuel Hatmaker on Facebook and Instagram. It’s all Samuel Hatmaker.
This interview was conducted in conjunction with The Brothers Brick, BZPower and True North Bricks.
All images courtesy of FOX.
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17 comments on this article
Crait looks terrible.
@Peter1999 said:
"Crait looks terrible."
Clearly the actual Lego designers felt differently. What their model lacks in fine detail it makes up for in strong color blocking and a dynamic layout. If the competition were merely to recreate a Star Wars vehicle accurately it probably wouldn't impress as much, but as far as capturing the energy and dynamism of the scene as a whole is concerned it does an excellent job.
I love the bows, that was a really nice touch! I'm so happy how far Sam and Jessica have come in the show. Can't wait to see what the final challenge is!
Honestly, I felt the whole focus on "color" in the Star Wars episode was weird. I thought the challenge was to accurately recreate a battle... Certain scenes, like Crait, naturally have more color than others, like Hoth, so judging a build on color doesn't seem entirely fair. I agree that Sam and Jessica's dynamics are excellent though.
@TheMikeAwakens , I agree. I thought they all were good models they built and represented their chosen scenes well. But when they mentioned color in the Hoth one, well, yeah. It’s mostly white and grey. Why make it a possible choice if you’re judging based on colors? It you put too much color into that scene, it betrays the scene itself. It seemed like an unfair handicap considering that is one of the most iconic battles in all of Star Wars.
@monkyby87 : Star Wars ships and planets may use a lot of subdued colors, but that doesn't mean an artist/designer can't find striking ways to create visual contrast. Do a Google image search for "Battle of Hoth" and you'll find plenty of screenshots from "The Empire Strikes Back" (and illustrations and other images inspired by that scene) that are richly decorated with vivid blue skies and mountain ridges, red laser cannon bolts, and yellow and orange explosions.
I think that was what the judges were looking for — models that really captured the intense visual spectacle of these scenes, even if it meant stylizing or exaggerating certain elements of the scene to compensate for other elements (like movement, light, and visual framing) that might not translate as neatly from the medium of film to the medium of sculpture.
Being able to authentically recreate vehicles, scenery, characters, and props from a scene is great, but just as in film, a lot of the real impact comes from how you take those raw components and turn them into a final product. And as in a lot of the earlier challenges, some of this depended on how well the teams could choose scenes that they had both the creative AND technical strengths to turn into a show-stopping creation!
If it helps, think of it this way: the Star Wars Holiday Special featured a lot of the exact same actors, costumes, props, vehicles, and visual effects as "A New Hope", but the overall emotional impact of the two works couldn't be any more different! :P
@Aanchir said:
"Star Wars ships and planets may use a lot of subdued colors, but that doesn't mean an artist/designer can't find striking ways to create visual contrast. Do a Google image search for "Battle of Hoth" and you'll find plenty of screenshots from "The Empire Strikes Back" (and illustrations and other images inspired by that scene) that are richly decorated with vivid blue skies and mountain ridges, red laser cannon bolts, and yellow and orange explosions.
I think that was what the judges were looking for — models that really captured the intense visual spectacle of these scenes, even if it meant stylizing or exaggerating certain elements of the scene to compensate for other elements (like movement, light, and visual framing) that might not translate as neatly from the medium of film to the medium of sculpture.
Being able to authentically recreate vehicles, scenery, characters, and props from a scene is great, but just as in film, a lot of the real impact comes from how you take those raw components and turn them into a final product. And as in a lot of the earlier challenges, some of this depended on how well the teams could choose scenes that they had both the creative AND technical strengths to turn into a show-stopping creation!
If it helps, think of it this way: the Star Wars Holiday Special featured a lot of the exact same actors, costumes, props, vehicles, and visual effects as "A New Hope", but the overall emotional impact of the two works couldn't be any more different! :P"
You make some good points! If that is what the judges were looking for though, I think they should have been up front about it when giving the challenge instead of coming to them part way through and saying "your build needs color," after they had already chosen the most colorless scene in the saga. Haha
So, am I banned from commenting?
Agreed. And the comment that Tyler and Amy didn't use as much color isn't even accurate. The only thing you could say is that Sam and Jessica used more red. That's it.
One thing I have gathered from a lot of these exit interviews, is that all the cast were very cordial and friendly with each other off camera. It makes me feel as if the show's editing is somewhat disingenuous and by making much of the on screen parts show the moments of conflict (take Sam's early "I feel like you don't understand Lego" quote from the first few episodes that got played multiple times in the show, multiple times in commercials and advertising, etc...). I.E. little bits of tension that were present in the competition, got spun out and exaggerated in the editing booth. That upsets me for some reason.
Like look back on the previous interview with Mark and Boone talking about Mel's experience at Disneyland. Or Aaron and Christian's exit interview talking about them after shooting tweaking their models off camera and having a generally great time with the other contestants. There is a far more interesting story of friendship and camaraderie that happened off camera that the show's editors for some reason thought wasn't worth showing us. A part of me is just anxious for all the cast's NDAs to expire once this is all over, because I want to know in full detail what really happened... since I have an increasingly eerie feeling that the TV show is artificially telling its own story that is disingenuous to the real events. Eh, probably true of most reality television productions to be honest.
Thanks for these great articles Megan, I really enjoy hearing from the contestants. Sam & Jessica's Star Wars challenge I think turned out terrific. SW didn't seem to be their thing, unlike the other two teams, but their build didn't show it. They captured the power of a battle scene in such a way that I thought was very dynamic. Their mermaid build was one of my favorites, but I also liked their storybook design.
They are an inspiration to me. To be in the bottom multiple times & to overcome that, wow. Jessica's can do it attitude is great & the way she could encourage Sam when he felt stressed, they really became quite a team. I can't wait for the final, but then it's over. Bittersweet.
@Lyichir:
I've been saying that all week. I really think they should have won the SW challenge just because the color dynamic grabs you in a way the other two don't.
@TheMikeAwakens:
So, they know one of the judges likes strong colors in everything. They've been hearing this for eight episodes incorporating probably at least three weeks of studio time, and they've seen teams get shot down during judging because they _didn't_ bring their color game. They do a preliminary contest to see who gets to pick their scene first. And the first team did what most teams would have done...and picks the scene that's all white and grey. Not even really any black, so it's B/W that's washed out. But that's the scene they picked because it's _the_ iconic SW scene to many people. It wasn't assigned. You notice that after their first two choices were taken by the other teams, The Eccentrics actually made a point of picking the remaining scene that had the most dynamic color scheme even though it's a garbage movie. All three teams should have gone in with that same mindset.
@monkyby87:
Best thing they could have done after the judges gave them feedback was have the standing AT-AT shoot the shield generator. That would have allowed them to add a huge, attention-grabbing explosion instead of tucking that tiny ball of fire behind it.
@Aanchir:
Ooh, yeah, I hadn't even thought of that! Most of those shots had a high sky, so they could have easily added a huge blue background with some bas-relief mountains in front of it, maybe one or two clouds to break up the monotony.
@MaxA:
The most powerful color combination you can work with is black and white and red. B/W gives you the most contrast, but is devoid of any actual color, and red is the one that draws our attention more than any others. That's why Spielberg used a red dress in Schindler's List, and why all of the Sin City comics/films and the movie The Spirit use that color scheme.
@xboxtravis7992:
I'd agree with you, but we saw Sam react to Jessica like that in three separate episodes (and not surprisingly they ended up in the bottom two all three times). We saw a similar incident between Manny and Nestor. We haven't heard anything suggesting the editing team were feeding them directions on how to interact with each other, so those were legitimate moments. Mostly what we saw in this vein was a few different contestants cracking under pressure and tearing themselves down, maybe apologizing to their partner for dragging the team down, but that's very different than lashing out at your own teammate.
Maybe there's some off-camera stuff where things got patched up. They could have realized that they screwed up, or maybe their teammates (or even other contestants) pulled them aside after the cameras had shut down and had some difficult conversations with them.
Regardless of all that, I really do think this is anyone's game tomorrow night. For this team, though, it critically hinges on their ability to maintain that team spirit. Lose that and I don't see them having any chance and winning.
@PurpleDave: Yes, red is the first color of the spectrum visible to human eyes, so naturally eyes are drawn to it.
That is exactly what makes Sam and Jessica’s design terrible.
This is the third time I’ve heard the reference to Shindler’s List in these threads. Go watch that again. Spielberg didn’t flood the screen with red, he pointedly and reservedly added a small splash of red against a mottled, neutral background. In actuality, Tyler and Amy’s design is more representative of that style as they used color intentionally and skillfully.
People who are saying: clearly the “actual” Lego experts thought differently so we are wrong? That assumes two things: the judging is objective and that their motive is to pick the best pieces. Neither of those things is necessarily true. First, I’ve said from the beginning that the judging is poor and mercurial. Though I like the judges, they don’t do a good job of applying criteria consistently. On the second point: I don’t think they intend to pick the best builds; they are trying to create the most entertaining TV show.
The fact that they have three contestants in the final is a dead giveaway. There was no consequence to adding the third team (Sam and Jessica) to the final, as there is no risk. Removing Tyler and Amy? Then you’d have a ridiculously imbalanced final. My hunch is that they have tailored this final towards Sam and Jessica to add drama.
@MaxA: I'm not under any illusion of the judges' perspectives being objective — nobody in this thread has even implied such a thing. But your perspectives aren't objective either, nor are mine! We've ALL just been sharing our subjective perspectives on the models in the semifinals and the judges' verdict about those models.
Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the judges' decisions, they've definitely done a very good job at keeping their critiques nuanced and constructive, naming strengths AND weaknesses they see in each of the various builds. I can't say the same for your comments in this thread. After all, you've now not only flatly dismissed Sam and Jessica's Crait build as "terrible" because you didn't like its use of color, but also cast aspersions on the integrity of the judges' decisions just because they don't line up with your own.
If we are all in agreement that their decisions are subjective, then why would any of us need to assume any other reason for them arriving at verdicts different than our own? After all, even if we all AGREED about what each model's strengths and weaknesses are, that doesn't mean we'd all agree about the relative impact of each of those strengths and weaknesses!
And in a community as diverse and creative as this one, it's a little worrying to me how quick a lot of us can be doubt the competence and integrity of other LEGO builders and designers any time they make decisions that aren't to our liking.
I'm used to seeing this sort of cynical outlook on the decisions of LEGO employees and designers (like when new set or themes get announced). But since LEGO Masters started airing in the US, I've been seeing more of these same sorts of unchecked, cynical putdowns directed at fans and builders just like us . And I think we need to start taking a serious look at how that sort of attitude hurts us not just as individuals, but as a community.
@Aanchir said:
I'll try to address each of your points:
1. Lyichir said: "Clearly the actual Lego designers felt differently" in response to someone else's comment about the Crait build. That implies that, if not expressing that it was objective fact, at the very least their opinion matters more AND that the person knows the judges were being sincere. That's a lot of assumptions. And, it's an appeal to authority.
2. I didn't say anything about the integrity of the judges. In fact, I said that I like them. What I did do was point out that the assumption that they were using equal criteria and assuming objectivity was a false premise. The goal of a TV show like this isn't to find the best, it is to produce an entertaining TV show. When some is going to dismiss someone else's opinion with a statement with "the judges agree with me, so nyah nyah nyah", I will point out the ridiculousness of that position.
You think the judges were good and constructive; that's fine. I don't think they were the worst reality judges I've ever seen, but that's not a high bar. What I will reiterate is that while I think their individual critiques were helpful, their judging was often all over the place. I believe they focused too much on twists and not overall challengers. I believe they used uneven scales (for example, the color thing... I'll even leave Sam and Jessica out of this example: Mark and Boone's design had the same color variety as Tyler and Amy, yet they got no comments about color; when the subject is weighted based on the source material, Tyler and Amy added MUCH more color that isn't present in the original than Mark and Boone did). The judges seem like nice people, but I think the assumption that they were being "fair" with their judging is incorrect.
So, yes... I agree that it is subjective. But, some people here have implied that, while discussing the skills of the build, appealing to the judge's decision implies that one side is correct. That is the same thing as assuming objectivity.
3. Do you not find it ironic that you think it is okay for people to have an opinion, but you are so dismissive of mine? Back to my comments about their build being terrible (which was the wrong way to phrase it), I was addressing their use of color. It was garish and pedestrian. It was also not very creative or skillful. Again, I was responding to people who tried to use Shindler's List as a comparison. I was pointing out that it was a false equivalence. The only similarity to their build and that movie was the color red.
I was not commenting on their overall build when I said it was terrible, just their use of color. With that said, I think the complete build was lacking, as well. I could have gone into more detail in my original reply, but I was focused on the color aspect, because people tend to parrot the judges' words. As to why the rest of the build was bad? First, the scale... it was all over the place. Second, the wall/door was boring and uninspired. The TIE fighter was fine, but the other two ships were completely monochrome and uninteresting. Sam and Jessica, in other weeks, have produced some decent builds. This was not one of them.
4. Why is saying that a build isn't technically good a "put down"? I didn't say anything about them as people. I don't know them, but they seem like very warm and kind individuals. All I've done is stated that I think their skills aren't as good as others on the show. That is literally what the show is about. I've made no comments about them as people. However, you've accused me of being "cynical" and questioning people's "integrity" (which I did not do). So, perhaps I'm not the one here who is being judgmental?
The eleventh word will be Mr Freeman
I've been thinking about it, and if Sam has been to Brickworld Chicago in the past, I believe I've actually seen him there. Never talked to him (there are way too many people there to try to talk to everyone, and the more people you meet over the years, the harder it is to find time to catch up with them all, much less find time for new acquaintances), but the hairstyle is distinctive enough that I'm almost certain I've seen him at least once, however briefly.